Physical terrain seems more “real,” and indeed does appeal to more senses than virtual terrain is currently capable of, yet both are encountered and become meaningful by virtue of their interaction with the human mind.

There is a concept, though only dimly expressed in Western criticism, of “negative” space. If games have an analogue to the blank canvas, it is this: the wish of a player to assume a body (or if not a body, some tool or mechanism for interaction) and act.